“Put her down,” Mitch replied just as quietly. “Then I’ll come back and get it.”

I nodded and Billy and I met Mitch and Billie on the sidewalk. I watched Mitch take me and Billy in, again his face registering contentment, that light in his eyes I could see in the evening dark, his lips tipping up. Mine tipped up back at him and my soul sighed.

Maybe that was what he was feeling. His soul sighing.

And, I had to admit, mine sighed again just thinking we gave him that especially with all he was giving us.

We walked up the steps side-by-side and I gave Billy’s shoulders a squeeze.

“Did you have a good day, Bud?” I asked softly.

“Best ever,” he muttered.

Best ever.

He was right. It was the best ever. For all of us. Maybe even Mitch.

I looked back at Mitch to see his still curved lips brushing the top of Billie’s hair.

Yes. It was the best ever. Even for Mitch.

Yeah, oh yeah, I loved Detective Mitchell James Lawson. I loved the family we were building. And I loved that he loved it too.

I looked down to my feet, concentrating on executing the last few steps. My body was pleasantly exhausted and I didn’t want to do a face plant in the stairs to end a great day. Billy’s body remained heavy against mine as we climbed and I kept my gaze at my feet as we made it to the breezeway, my mind winding down, my thoughts happy.

Therefore when I heard Mitch whisper a clipped, “No,” which was shortly followed by a soft, intensely angry, “Hell no,” it so surprised me in the mood I sensed we were all in I lifted my head and twisted my neck to look at him.

His face was carved in stone.

What on earth?

He stopped and I automatically stopped with him, Billy stopping with me. Then I looked where Mitch was looking and I felt my body turn to stone just like Mitch’s face and I knew when Billy saw them because his body did the same against mine.

Mom and Aunt Lulamae were standing outside my door. Their eyes were on us. Their hair was amped out to maximum volume. Their makeup was a tribute to raccoons. Their cleavage was bared. Their arms were crossed on their chests pushing it up and bearing more.

And their faces were smirking.

I knew why.

Standing with them was Jez.

Jez!

Billie’s mother.

My heart had stopped when my body turned to stone but taking in Jez, it started stuttering madly. No rhythm, it tripped unsteadily as my pleasure after the best day ever oozed out and fear settled in.

I hadn’t seen her in six years. She took off within months of Billie being born. She was bad news then and she looked like bad news now.

Worse.

She looked strung out, too thin, her clothing matched the skank level of my Mom and aunt’s and it was clear she didn’t pay much mind to her toilette except to cake on more makeup than even Mom and Aunt Lulamae wore. I didn’t even think this was possible but there it was in the lit breezeway. Proof.

Bill.

Bill had activated Mom and Aunt Lulamae to find her and bring her here to fuck with me.

And fucking with me meant fucking with Mitch, Billy and Billie.

Oh God.

I felt Billy’s body start shaking against me. Not little shakes, quakes. It rocked his frame and shook me out of my terrified surprise.

He knew Jez, of course, it had been a long time ago but he remembered her. Even though he was very young, he avoided her even then with instincts honed from living in that world. And considering he was nine going on ninety, he knew why she was there now.

And also, he’d never, not once, laid eyes on Melbamae and Lulamae Hanover. But he knew who they were and he knew why they were there now.

I shuffled Billy and I closer to Mitch and whispered urgently, “That’s Jez. Billie’s birth mother. Not Bud’s, Billie’s.”

“Right,” Mitch clipped, his tone even angrier, his mood rolling dangerously through the breezeway, his body still rock-solid.

“Late night for two little kids,” Mom called, still smirking and Mitch moved.

Not to my door. Not to his door.

To Derek and LaTanya’s door.

I was surprised by this but I followed, pulling a still shaking Billy with me and keeping my eyes on the Trailer Trash Trio.

Mitch spoke not a word but lifted a fist and pounded on the door. I didn’t know what he was doing and I didn’t ask. He was clearly going to lead and I was definitely going to follow.

Aunt Lulamae made a move to us, arms coming uncrossed, torso bent slightly, eyes on Billy. When she did, I shifted closer to Mitch, my arm tightening around Billy, I positioned so I was between her and my cousin, Billy between Mitch and me.

“Hello, Billy, I’m your grand-momma,” she cooed and Billy shoved his body closer to me in a way it seemed he wanted me to absorb it.

I held him tighter.

“Far’s I can see, she grew up kinda pretty,” I heard Jez mutter and my gaze cut to her to see her eyes on Billie, mild curiosity in them and not much else.

I found this surprising too, not to mention a little alarming. Furthermore, I found her assessment of Billie as “kinda pretty” insane. Even asleep and mostly hidden from view by Mitch, anyone could see Billie was gorgeous.

She was Billie’s mother and hadn’t seen her daughter in six years.

Mild curiosity and an inane comment?

What was that all about?

I didn’t ask, not that I would have, I didn’t have the time.

This was because Mitch spoke.

“Not one step closer,” he growled in a way that even Aunt Lulamae stopped and looked at him.

“I –” she started.

“Not another word either,” Mitch went on, his voice low and vibrating, so furious it felt physical. “We’ll deal with you in a minute.”

Aunt Lulamae’s torso straightened with a snap and her eyes narrowed.

“Those’re my grandbabies,” she hissed.

Before Mitch could respond, the door opened and Derek was there.

Then we weren’t.

This was because Mitch rounded me and Billy, herding us, forcing us with his movements through the door, through Derek and once we were inside, he slammed the door behind us.

I saw immediately that there was a mini-cocktail extravaganza in progress. There were martini glasses in hands, decimated platters of food on the coffee table with two silver cocktail shakers, a bucket of ice and bottles of booze and mixers. I had seen this all many times before. Once she settled in, LaTanya wasn’t one to waste time sashaying into the kitchen to mix cocktails. She set up where it was comfortable and stayed there.

Bray and Brent were on the couch.

So was LaTanya’s cousin, Elvira.

Elvira.

I wasn’t certain what Mitch’s plan was. What I was certain of was that in any plan, Elvira was a wildcard.

I knew Elvira seeing as she was a staple at LaTanya’s cocktail extravaganzas. Elvira had great style, a sister and brother who worked her last nerves and she didn’t mind telling everyone about it so she did (at length). She also had an interesting job herding the cats that were a bunch of men whose business was a little hazy but my sense was they were private investigators (or the like) and, once you got to know her, she could be hilarious.

But if LaTanya Delight deserved a capital “D”, her cousin Elvira’s Attitude deserved a capital “A”. Pretty much anything came out of Elvira’s mouth and she was scary nosy. She didn’t have a filter. She said what she thought, she said it straight and she had a lot of opinions.

I liked her but I had to admit, she always scared me a little.

During another mini-cocktail extravaganza of LaTanya’s, that one sans Elvira, LaTanya shared she felt the same way about her cousin.

Now Elvira, Bray, Brent, LaTanya and Derek were all staring at us with various expressions of surprise on their faces and I didn’t blame them. We’d barged right in and there we were.

“Is everything –?” Derek started but Mitch didn’t let him get further as we heard a pounding knock on the door.

All eyes (including mine) went to it but Mitch started talking.

“The Trailer Trash Twins are in the breezeway,” he explained quietly, striding straight to Derek and LaTanya’s second bedroom that they used as a half-office/half-man cave. When I saw him on the move, I trailed taking Billy with me. So did Derek. So did LaTanya. And Bray, Brent and Elvira all got up and followed us.

Mitch kept talking as he moved, carrying the still sleeping (thankfully) Billie.

“They brought reinforcements. Billie’s Mom,” he stated as he walked into the room. Billy and I followed, so did Derek and LaTanya. Bray, Brent and Elvira huddled at the door.

I heard several sucked in breaths and I was guessing they came from LaTanya, Brent and Bray. For his part, Derek’s face got tight.

Mitch bent and I watched by the light coming through the opened door as he carefully deposited Billie on Derek’s man cave couch, arranged her comfortably and then reached out an arm to grab a throw from the back of it. He tossed it over her, twitching it so it covered her.

Then, when she was down, we all heard another pound come at the door.

Everyone’s heads twisted in that direction except Mitch’s. He moved swiftly, his movements controlled, fluid but economical like he was holding himself in check. He also didn’t hesitate and Bray, Brent and Elvira had to jump out of his way as his long legs took him out the door.

My arm still around a trembling Billy, I hurried after him, guiding Billy with me and giving him a firm squeeze.

“It’s going to be okay, honey,” I whispered as we moved and his head tipped back woodenly, his terrified eyes hit mine and my heart clenched. “Promise, Bud.” I kept whispering. “Everything’s going to be okay.” I gave him another squeeze. “Promise.”

We made it to the living room but Billy didn’t even nod and the terror didn’t leave his face. I stopped us when I heard Mitch speak and looked to the door.

He had it open, his body was blocking it and I saw Aunt Lulamae was standing on the other side.

“Five minutes,” he bit out.

“Fuck five minutes,” Aunt Lulamae returned. “We been waitin’ an hour.”

“Then you’ll wait another five minutes or you’ll find your ass in the back of a cruiser and you’ll be facing harassment charges,” Mitch fired back and I just got the chance to see her head jerk and her eyes narrow before he shut the door in her face.

Then he turned, walked directly to Billy and crouched in front of him.

One of his hands came up, curled around the side of Billy’s neck and he pulled him roughly yet tenderly away from my body and to within an inch of his face.

“I got this, Bud,” he said in a low, deeper than normal voice, his eyes locked with Billy’s.

Billy didn’t respond.

Mitch gave him a gentle shake with his hand at his neck.

“I promise you, I got this. You believe me?”

Billy didn’t move nor did he speak.

“Bud?” Mitch prompted on another gentle shake and finally Billy nodded.

My heart skipped when Mitch pulled Billy to him and rested his forehead against my cousin’s for half a second before he let him go and straightened.

Then he looked at LaTanya.

“Door closed to Billie. Shit goes down, I don’t want her hearin’ it. You gotta move her back to your room, I need you to do that. Yeah?” he asked and LaTanya nodded then rushed to the man cave.

Mitch looked to Derek.

“I don’t want those women around the kids and I don’t want them knowin’ I live across the breezeway. That’s why we’re here. In a minute, Mara and me are goin’ out there, we’re takin’ them into Mara’s apartment and we’re dealin’ with ‘em. You hear shit you don’t like, like those bitches gettin’ loud and threatening, you call Slim. He knows what’s goin’ on and he’ll know what to do. You don’t like what you hear, you call. No hesitation. Right?”

Derek nodded.

Mitch looked at Bray and Brent.

“Keep Bud company. He’s freaked.”

Bray and Brent nodded, Brent detaching from Bray and moving toward Billy.

Mitch’s eyes came to me, they moved over my face, I knew he didn’t like what he saw but he powered through it and said quietly, “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

It was my turn to nod.

“I’m goin’ with,” Elvira announced right as I started to move toward Mitch and both Mitch and my eyes went to her.

Oh boy. Here we go. Elvira was butting into Mitch’s plans.